She walked into the class, and Henry was lost staring at her. Thoughts flashed through his mind. He imagined her walking beside him, both of them holding hands, walking home together, like the cool dudes and their girlfriends. He followed her with his eyes until she got to her seat, and then he quickly looked away when she looked in his direction. When he felt that it was safe to look again, he continued staring.
The first day Sandra walked into the class a few weeks ago, he became obsessed with her.
The pretty girls in his class didn’t like him because he wore a big, round glasses, and while the cool dudes wore trendy footwear, he wore a black shoe.
Andrew, one of the cool boys in the class, walked up to Sandra’s desk and they started talking.
“So, Andrew dumped Julia last week just because he wanted Sandra. Why does he get all the girls,” Henry thought.
Andrew said something that made Sandra giggle, and it hurt Henry. She wasn’t his girlfriend, but it was as if Andrew was taking something that belonged to him. After about a minute, Sandra’s friends entered the class and joined whatever discussion she and Andrew were having. He pulled out his phone from his pocket to take his mind off Sandra. He started playing Sudoku. It helped a little bit, but he could still hear her voice, only her voice even though other people were talking.
Peter, his only friend in class, a geek like him, the only person who knew that he had dreams of becoming Sandra’s boyfriend, returned from the library. Henry’s desk was his first stop. He was holding a big book about space science and started telling Henry about his new discoveries. Henry acted like he was paying attention, but his whole attention was on Sandra’s voice sounding from the other end of the class. For about five minutes, Peter kept talking and talking. And Henry continued nodding.
“Henry, what do you think about these kinds of inventions?” Peter asked.
Henry managed to answer by saying, “Well, I think they are cool,” even though he wasn't listening. Peter was satisfied with the answer and continued talking until Henry interrupted him.
“Peter, I really like her.”
“Tell her, she might like you too,” Peter said and started laughing. “She’s already Andrew’s girlfriend. Forget about her and let’s talk about rockets, meteorites, planets. Besides, even if Andrew isn’t interested, she wouldn't date you.”
Peter started laughing again. Then he pointed to a girl who he felt would accept Henry’s proposal if he asked her out. The girl wasn't as pretty as Sandra, and her friends weren’t cool like Sandra’s friends.
Their mathematics teacher walked into the class, and everyone returned to their seats quickly. It was a big relieve for Henry to see Sandra alone again. But he knew it would only be for a short time. The mathematics class wouldn’t take forever.
During the class, the teacher shared their test scripts and announced that Henry and Peter had scored the highest marks. And while the teacher was advising others to study more, Henry noticed Sandra looking at him with a smile.
“Am I dreaming,” he thought.
He kept looking in her direction, and she looked again. They made eye contact for about two seconds, and they both looked away at the same time. His heart started beating faster. He wondered why she looked him. He pulled out his mobile phone and sent Peter a text message.
“She has looked at me twice, and she smiled. Is it a good sign?”
“Who? Anita?” Peter replied.
Henry looked back at Peter and hoped Peter would read his lips as he said “Sandra” silently. Peter couldn’t, so he sent another text message.
"Not Anita. Sandra!!”
“I think Andrew would be the best to answer your question. He has more experience with girls than me (us) lol,” Peter replied.
Henry looked back at Peter, frowning. Peter was grinning.
Before the class ended, she had looked at him three more times. His body was in the class, but his mind was somewhere else. He imagined her walking over to him after class and saying something like, “Henry, could you please teach me Trigonometry.”
Immediately the class ended, he rushed to Peter’s desk and told him she had looked three more times. But Peter was more interested in talking about science, so he went back to his seat to continue looking at her. There was something so appealing about looking at her from behind. Maybe it was because of her long, black hair. She was busy writing something.
“Maybe she’s writing a letter to me to tell me that she feels the same way too,” he thought.
And soon he was lost in thoughts imagining her handing the letter to him. While he was collecting the letter from her in his mind, he noticed that she had stood up and was walking in his direction. For a moment, he couldn't tell if his thoughts were blending with reality.
“Is she really coming here?” he thought.
His heart was pumping hard. He shifted forward to the edge of the seat. She was getting closer as she navigated the rows. Then someone stopped her. It was Andrew. He almost got up to go and tell Andrew to allow her to reach wherever she was going to. Andrew was so good with girls that in a few seconds Sandra was smiling. What was he telling her that was so sweet? That moment, Henry decided that he had to be like the cool dudes. He had to force himself to look and dress like them. He would do whatever it would take.
But she only spent about two minutes talking to Andrew and continued walking. And then, she stopped at his desk.
“Hi, Henry,” she said.
No one had ever called his name in such a sweet way before. He stood up and sat down, a little confused.
“Hi, do you need my help? Do you need something? Are you looking for something,” he asked.
“Yeah, I need your help, Henry,” she said.
He smiled and then he noticed Andrew and his cool friends staring from the front of the class. Then Andrew started walking toward him.
“Can you please teach me something,” she said.
“Sure, anything, is it Mathematics?”
“Dreams come true,” Henry thought. What he had imagined was happening almost the same way.
Just as she was about to speak, Andrew interrupted and asked what she wanted from Henry. She looked at Andrew and looked back at Henry before she said she wanted Henry to teach her something.
“Come,” he said. “I know someone who would teach you better. Henry wouldn’t be able to teach you because he is scared of girls.”
Andrew’s loud voice was heard by the whole class and most started laughing, except Sandra. Andrew extended his hand for her to follow him, but she ignored him.
She bent, placed her hand on Henry’s shoulder, and whispered into his ear, “Please, could you teach me after school today? Andrew is just being childish.”
Henry nodded. Even after she took her hand off his shoulder, he still felt as if her hand was resting on him. The whole class was staring. The impossible was happening. The most beautiful girl in class just whispered into Henry’s ear? What did she tell him? What did she ask him? Even though they didn’t ask, he could tell what was on their mind from their facial expressions, especially Andrew and his cool friends.
When she was only a few steps away from his desk, Peter had come, asking what Sandra told him.
Feeling very excited, he said to Peter, “The probability that she would someday become my girlfriend has increased. We may spend some time together this afternoon.”
Thank you for reading.
Image from Pixabay.com
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